Starling Marte

RotoWire News: Marte (hand), who arrived to spring training three days early Thursday, says he's feeling healthier after an injury ended his Dominican Winter League season prematurely, Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic reports. (2/16/2018)

Profile: The "multi-tooled talent" is at hand! Starling Marte has had his cup of coffee, and now enters 2013 as the leading candidate for the left field and leadoff roles. His plate discipline issues will probably suppress his sophomore year value, but for keeper leagues and ottoneu franchises, Marte is an exciting bet. He has slaughtered minor league pitching through every level of his pro experience and will be hitting in a lineup featuring Andrew McCutchen, which could portend additional RBI chances if his power develops quicker than expected and he finds himself in the heart of the lineup. Do not expect too much from Marte in his first full season, though. He will only be 24, and has plenty of time to prove his worth, but he only had a 99 wRC+ through his first 182 plate appearances. He should be better in 2013, but young position players can take time. (Bradley Woodrum)

The Quick Opinion: Marte is a long-term investment coming to roost. He makes the most sense in keeper leagues and ottoneu franchises, but there does exist the potential his gaudy minor league performances translate into some early big league success.

Profile: Marte never approached the 40 steals territory in the minor leagues, but in his 2013 breakout season, he not only stole 41 sacks, but also pow'd 12 homers. His .280 batting average and .343 on-base percentage may be tough to reproduce in 2014, and projection systems are pessimistic, but the 25-year-old outfielder is a safe bet to help most any fantasy team for a long time to come. His .363 batting average on balls in play foreshadows a likely reduction in fantasy impact, but Marte should develop into a high-BABIP hitter given his general offensive profile. Chris Cwik suggests Marte should be able to maintain a higher BABIP, but he will need to improve his contact rate first -- which is fortunate because contact rate stabilizes rather quickly, so you'll be able to spot any change their early in the season. Keep an eye on him early for signs of trouble or promise. (@BradleyWoodrum)

The Quick Opinion: Marte is a young, versatile outfielder that should be good for a healthy dose of steals and solid batting average and on-base percentage. The high batting average on balls in play will probably come down, but should remain relatively high given his speed and line-drive hitting style -- if he can improve his contact rate.

Profile: Marte followed up his 2013 fantasy breakout with another strong showing, even bumping up his walk rate to a less intolerable level. He still strikes out far too much for a hitter who merely has above average power. Those strikeouts have led to a major reliance on batting average on balls in play to contribute a positive batting average, which increases the risk that he falls apart. While he does possess the batted ball distribution profile of a high BABIP guy, it's extremely difficult to sustain marks above .360. His power upside is intriguing, as he finished 13th in baseball in average home run and fly ball distance. But PNC Park is death for right-handed home runs, which explains his stark home/away home run per fly ball rate splits, with an away rate 3.5% higher than at home. Given his apparent power ceiling and chances of enjoying a stolen base rebound, there is lots of upside here, with downside coming in the form of his batting average. (Mike Podhorzer)

The Quick Opinion: Marte's exciting combination of power and speed gives him a high floor, while his strong batted ball distance and the possibility of a stolen base rebound point to further fantasy upside. There's lots of variance here given his reliance on a high BABIP, but he should remain a top outfield option.

Profile: Starling Marte's 2015 season is a mirage in the desert heat, and the fantasy baseball community hasn't seen a drinking hole in days. Marte hit 10 home runs before June and people freaked, man. He predictably regressed to the mean, hitting his typical two-ish homers per month thereafter. ESPN's home run tracker classified six of Marte's home runs in 2015 as "just enough," whereas he hit only one "just enough" in 2014. Omit them and Marte's last two seasons are practically indistinguishable, except for one component: Marte markedly improved his strikeout rate in 2015. It's a strange development, however, given the general lack of change to his plate discipline; his contact rates are mostly unchanged. Sometimes, it's just a matter of when the swings and misses occur. Simply put, Marte saw more two-strike counts than ever before but consistently struck out less often (except in full counts). It doesn't seem like a sustainable development. Nor does the power. Meanwhile, Marte's playing time obscures the fact that it took him almost 100 additional plate appearances in 2015 to match 2014's stolen base total. Steamer likes Marte to maintain his power spike, his plate discipline gains and his speed. Frankly, this author is reluctant to buy into any of it. He's still good for 15 homers, 25 steals and another .280 batting average, but overpaying in the early rounds can be a costly mistake. Marte is the same fifth-round outfielder he has always been, going at second- and third-round prices. (Alex Chamberlain)

The Quick Opinion: Starling Marte's impressive 2015 season carries with it some considerable asterisks that have gone largely unnoticed or, perhaps, ignored. Marte is a no-doubt top-20 outfielder, but be prepared to pay a premium to watch him regress to the mean.

Profile: Back issues forced Marte to miss most of September and you have to wonder how much that affected his power. His home run total fell by more than half, as did his HR/FB rate, though he was coming off a career year in the power department. Still, his power declined to its lowest level ever. He made up for it though by swiping a career best number of bases and posting a career high BABIP that pushed his batting average above .300 for the first time. Assuming good health, I would bet his power rebounds to 2013-2014 levels, while his 2015 may prove to be his career year on the HR/FB front. He clearly still owns excellent speed, but in his late 20's, one would imagine it's going to begin to wane. So the right call would be to expect a dropoff in stolen base attempts, expecting closer to his previous two seasons. Depending on the health of his back, he should once again be good for low teens homers and 30+ steals. (Mike Podhorzer)

The Quick Opinion: Though the power regressed, Marte remains an excellent source of power and speed and manages to post consistently inflated BABIP marks, making him a batting average asset as well. His back issues are a concern worth monitoring, but health is the only thing that would keep him from another top 15 outfielder season.

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